


fast-forward to love

by gothyringwald



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Bad dates, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Dating, Endgame Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay Billy Hargrove, Jealousy, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Steve Harrington, Period-Typical Homophobia, Rating May Change, Roommates, still the 1980s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28821957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothyringwald/pseuds/gothyringwald
Summary: Steve has had no shortage of bad luck when it comes to dating, and his roommate, Billy, is always there to listen—and make fun of him—after each and every disastrous date. Sometimes, Steve wishes Billy was there to do more than listen, but Billy just isn’t interested in him like that. So, Steve keeps dating, hoping he’ll get over Billy.When he signs up for a video dating service and meets Nancy, things seem to start going well for a change, but there's still something missing.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Other(s)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 69





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written [for a prompt on tumblr](https://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/640604934531956736/hi-sorry-for-bothering-u-i-have-a-prompt-steve). I’ve wanted to include video dating in a fic for a while, now, and [this prompt](https://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/640604934531956736/hi-sorry-for-bothering-u-i-have-a-prompt-steve)just felt (almost) perfect for me! I really hope anon doesn’t mind that I changed it to still be the 1980s :)
> 
> Billy/Steve are (perhaps not surprisingly because it's me) endgame but Steve does date other people, including Nancy, throughout the fic (as per the tags)

‘Man, why can’t my life be like Life?’ Steve picks up another plastic peg from the box sitting by the side of the board. ‘I mean, here I’m already married and have two kids, but in real life—’

‘You can’t even get a date?’ Billy takes a swig of his beer, smirking at Steve over the bottle.

‘I get dates.’

Billy snorts, resting his arm on his knee, beer bottle dangling between his fingers. ‘If that’s what you wanna call ‘em.’

It’s only a joke, Billy teasing Steve the way he does, the way he has since the day they met, but it still stings. Steve can’t be sure if it’s that he doesn’t want to seem like a loser at _all_ , or he doesn’t want Billy, specifically, thinking he’s a loser.

Before he can come back with something—trading jibes the way they do—Heather says, ‘Maybe you should try a dating service.’ She rolls the dice, taking her turn, leaning against Robin. The two of them are as different as Steve and Billy are, but they fit together so well. Privately, Steve hadn’t thought it would work out between them, but he’s glad they proved him wrong. By just over a year, so far.

And then Heather’s words sink in. ‘A dating service?’ he scoffs. ‘Those are for old people.’ He shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth. ‘And losers.’

‘You _are_ the oldest here,’ Robin says, her smile all mock-innocence.

Steve ‘accidentally’ kicks her when he rearranges his legs under the coffee table, earning him a hot glare. ‘Billy’s only three months younger than me.’ He folds his arms over his stomach. ‘And I already said I get dates.’

‘OK,’ Robin says, popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth, chewing accusingly at Steve, ‘when was the last time you got a _second_ date?’

‘Last week.’

‘Are you seeing her again?’

Steve opens his mouth, then sighs. ‘No.’

‘You wanna tell us why, Casanova?’ Billy’s still smirking.

Steve fires a glare in his direction. Billy’s the only one who knows what happened on the date. It’s not that Steve didn’t want to tell Robin—he’s told her pretty much everything since the day she spilled her guts to him four years ago and slotted into his life as his best friend. But when she’d asked how it had gone, Heather was there, and they were so cute and happy and Steve couldn’t bring himself to admit it all, so he’d just murmured something about them not being compatible.

But, now, he runs a hand over his face and says, ‘She went to the bathroom halfway through and didn’t come back,’ all in a rush.

‘What?’ Robin spits out. ‘You didn’t tell me that. Fuck, that’s so rude!’

‘Totally bitchy,’ Heather says.

Steve shrugs. ‘It’s fine.’ It wasn’t fine, but he’s warmed by his friends’ concern, even if they give him shit more often than not.

‘No, it’s not,’ Robin says. ‘You deserve better.’ She pauses, cheeks flushed, adds, ‘You know, for a dingus.’

Steve’s lips twitch. ‘Thanks.’

‘She left him with a nice big bill, too,’ Billy says.

‘Jesus.’

‘At least I get dates,’ Steve says, his stomach pitching. They’ve been roommates for six months and Billy hasn’t brought a girl home once, hasn’t even talked about a girlfriend or a one night stand or anything. It had given Steve hope, for a while, but if Billy were into guys, and he was into Steve, he’d have made a move by now, right?

Not that Steve has told Billy that _he’s_ into guys, too, but shouldn’t he be able to _tell_ or something? Fuck. Steve has no clue.

‘Oh, I get plenty, Harrington.’ Billy’s eyelids are lowered, eyes dark in the warm light of the living room. His voice is a rough murmur above the music playing on their stereo. ‘I just don’t kiss and tell.’

Heat rushes to Steve’s face and he swallows thickly. ‘Right.’

Across the table, Heather and Robin exchange a glance that Steve does _not_ like.

‘Anyway,’ Steve says, ‘I’m still not joining a dating service.’

‘Please,’ Heather says. ‘We’re doing a membership drive, and I really want to beat Jeanette Patterson.’ Her calculating smile fades, turning fake-sweet. ‘I mean, I want to help you find that special someone.’ She all but bats her lashes.

Steve rolls his eyes and groans. ‘Only if Billy does it, too.’

‘No fucking way,’ Billy says. Something strange flashes in his eyes, but it’s too quick for Steve to figure out what it could be. ‘I told you, I don’t need help getting dates.’

‘Please, Steve.’ Heather has her hands clasped and she’s doing that pouty thing that shouldn’t work on Steve because she’s not _his_ girlfriend but, damn, it’s crumbling his resolve.

Steve looks at Robin, but she only shrugs, so he says, ‘Fine, OK. I’ll do it,’ holding up his hands.

‘Great.’ Heather beams. ‘You can come in first thing tomorrow. I’ll be there when you do your video interview.’

‘My _what_?’

‘It’s a _video_ dating service,’ she says like Steve should know. Maybe he should but he only gives a shrug. Heather huffs and continues: ‘You make this, like, five minute video and then the women signed up with us go through a folder and choose any guys they’re interested in and watch their videos. Then we let you know when there’s anyone who wants to meet you, and you come in and watch her video.’ Heather pauses to draw a breath. ‘And if _you’re_ interested, we give you each other’s details.’

‘Well, that sounds…romantic,’ Steve says.

‘It works really well,’ Heather says, ‘we have a lot of success stories.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Oh, I am so looking forward to seeing this,’ Robin says, eyes lit up.

‘Only members are allowed in when they’re filming, babe,’ Heather says.

‘Come on,’ Robin says, pouting, ‘I’ve got to see Harrington make this video.’

‘Yeah, sure, why don’t we just sell tickets?’ Steve flops back. The couch scrapes across the floor, thudding against the wall. He shakes his head and looks at Billy, who’s been suspiciously quiet the past few minutes. ‘You wanna come, too?’

‘Nah,’ Billy says, voice strange, ‘I can see you make an idiot of yourself any time I want.’

‘I hate you.’

Billy winks and pushes himself off of the floor, waggling his empty bottle of beer at Steve. Steve shakes his head, watching as Billy slopes off to the kitchen.

‘We should pick an outfit for your video,’ Heather says, drumming bubblegum pink nails on the coffee table, eyes narrowed in consideration as she looks Steve over.

‘I can pick my own clothes just fine.’

‘That’s debatable,’ Heather says, with a pointed flick of her gaze from Steve’s ringer tee to his favourite pair of jeans.

From the kitchen, Billy barks out a laugh; across the table, Robin is doing a poor job of concealing her smile.

Steve lets his head thunk onto the table and says, ‘I hate all of you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :) feel free to come find me on Tumblr @gothyringwald (this [chapter is posted there too](https://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/640604934531956736/hi-sorry-for-bothering-u-i-have-a-prompt-steve) if you feel like reblogging or just prefer reading/saving fic on tumblr! The rest will only be posted on AO3 but I will probably post promos for it on tumblr :))
> 
> I probably shouldn’t start another WIP but…I just wanted to get this out there haha I haven’t abandoned late night feelings, though!
> 
> Title from an article I found about video dating services


	2. Steve, 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a tag for period typical homophobia because of someone Billy works with making some asshole-ish remarks and just in case anything else comes up in the fic - I don't think it will but wanted to cover my bases

Sweat prickles at the back of Steve’s neck, dampening the collar of his pink polo shirt.

 _It’s salmon, Steve, not pink, trust me_ , Heather’s voice echoes in his mind. Steve’s mom had sent it to him for his last birthday, and he’d shoved it to the back of his closet, until Heather dug it out this morning when she’d come over to choose his outfit for his video. He’d wanted to wear the burgundy one, but Heather is bossy and insisted the pink— _salmon, Steve_ —shirt did something appealing to his complexion. Or it might bring out his eyes. Steve can’t remember what Heather had said, but he remembers each and every one of Robin’s sarcastic remarks as she’d stood by.

Steve decides, as he tries to gather saliva in his dry mouth, to blame this on Robin. If she hadn’t met Heather, and Heather hadn’t started working at this stupid agency, then Steve wouldn’t be here, exposing what a loser he is to the whole world. Well, currently to Heather and the guy manning the video camera, a quiet, dark-haired man introduced to Steve as Jonathan.

The room is small and stuffy and the lights are too bright; the stool Steve is perched on wobbles and, for one moment, he pictures himself toppling off and sprawling to the floor. His heart leaps into his throat, but he doesn’t fall. Too bad. If he’d fallen, he might get knocked out or, better yet, die and he wouldn’t have to do this damn video. Death by braining on a tacky linoleum floor sounds preferable to death by making an idiot of himself on this video.

Jonathan looks even less like he wants to be here than Steve does. At least he’s getting paid.

Heather’s pink nails tap on the purple clipboard she’s holding as she reels off question after question for Steve to answer.

_What’s your idea of a perfect date? What are you looking for in a relationship? What are your hobbies, interests, turn-ons, turn-offs, favourite food? Where do you see yourself in five years?_

It’s worse than a conversation with his mother.

Steve answers the questions as best as he can, pretending the camera is a pretty girl—or guy—he’s trying to chat up. He used to be good at this. He was smooth. He can do this.

It takes less than twenty minutes, but Steve emerges feeling like he’s been in there for a decade. A decade of interrogation and torture. When he murmurs something to that effect, Heather whacks him in the arm with her clipboard and tells him not to be such a drama queen.

Steve rubs his arm and looks over the office. He was too keyed-up earlier to take it in properly, but with the video behind him, he’s free to soak it up. The walls are painted a light purple, there are potted palms in between plush armchairs, and behind the shiny black counter there’s a huge sign of the agency’s logo. It’s a VHS tape with the words ‘fast-forward to love’ written in a looping script in an alarming shade of pink across it, and a giant glittering heart behind them both.

There are people milling around, filling in the long— _long_ —forms like the one Steve filled out earlier. Most of the people look, well, pretty normal. No weirdos or losers like Steve had thought there would be at a place like this. Across the way, there’s a woman with light brown hair, wearing a blue dress. She’s really pretty. She waves in Steve’s direction and Steve’s heart leaps. He waves back, but then he realises she’s looking past him.

He winces and looks over his shoulder, hoping she didn’t see. Jonathan has finally emerged from the room, clutching the strap of a messenger bag.

‘That your girlfriend?’ Steve asks as Jonathan brushes by him.

Jonathan stops and blinks back at him. ‘Just a friend,’ he says, frowning at Steve, then he swiftly walks over to meet his just-friend.

‘Nice to meet you, too,’ Steve says, snorting softly.

‘He’s weird,’ Heather says, and then, ‘Hey, babe!’ when Robin sidles up to them.

There’s a light blush across Robin’s cheeks that Steve would bet good money wasn’t there moments ago. Even after this long together, Heather still manages to fluster her, especially when she calls her ‘babe’ or something like that in public. Robin’s hands twitch at her sides, like she’s itching to touch Heather and Steve’s heart aches a little for her.

In the end, Robin slings an arm around Steve’s shoulders and says, ‘How did it go, Harrington? Think you got a future in the pictures?’

‘Only dirty ones,’ Steve says, waggling his brows.

Robin screws her face up and pushes away from Steve. ‘Gross.’

‘It went great.’ Heather gives Steve a withering look, then brightens with a smile. ‘We’ll be overwhelmed with luscious babes once they see Steve’s video.’

‘Yeah, wanting their money back,’ Robin says.

‘Ha ha.’ Steve crosses his arms over his chest. The whole purpose of this had slipped from his mind in the frenzy of form-filling and the interview. But, now, it all comes rushing back. He’s doing this to find dates. Because he wants a girlfriend—or a boyfriend would be nice, but he won’t find one of those here—and he wants to settle down, and all that shit. But what if no one’s interested in him? Fuck. What if someone _is_?

‘I’ve got an hour for lunch,’ Heather says, looking at her mint green wristwatch, ‘wanna grab something?’ She looks between Robin and Steve.

Robin nods. ‘Yeah, sure, I could eat.’ She looks at Steve. ‘You coming?’

‘I said I’d meet Billy.’

‘He can come, too.’

‘Oh, well…’ Steve shifts his weight. ‘You two probably don’t want us intruding.’ It’s not that he doesn’t like hanging out when it’s the four of them, but it’s different when it’s just him and Billy.

‘Uh-huh. You sure you don’t want _us_ intruding?’

‘What does that mean?’

Heather and Robin exchange one of their looks. Steve hates their looks.

‘What?’ he says.

‘Nothing.’ Robin holds up her hands. ‘Just, you know, your crush is showing.’

‘My _what_?’

‘Oh, sweetie, anyone can see you’ve got a thing for him.’ Heather pats his arm, lips twitching in a way that’s at odds with her sympathetic tone.

‘I do _not_.’

‘Really? Is that why you spent half an hour waxing poetic about his pecs when you were drunk the other week?’ Robin quirks a brow at him. ‘You owe me for emotional damages from that conversation, by the way. I’m scarred.’

‘Keep your voice down.’ Steve looks around; heat crawls up his throat, and his chest feels tight.

Robin’s face softens. ‘Steve, it’s OK.’

‘It’s _not_. Look, he’s—’ Steve looks around again, licking his lips. ‘He’s hot, OK? But he’s also straight.’

‘How do you know? You haven’t even told him you’re—‘

‘ _Shh_.’ Steve makes a shushing motion with his hands. ‘And, well, he’s just…’ How _does_ he know Billy’s straight? ‘Well, Heather worked with him, did he ever say anything?’

‘I worked with him for, like, a week before I was fired.’ Heather blinks. ‘I mean, before I decided to move on.’ She clears her throat. ‘I barely talked to him, then, except when I mentioned you were looking for a roommate.’ She shrugs a shoulder. ‘I don’t know who he’s into.’

‘Yeah, well, he’s not into me,’ Steve says, glumly.

They move outside, gathering on the sidewalk. The air is crisp, the sky is clear, and people bustle by them as they continue their conversation.

‘You should think about telling him that you’re—’ Heather cuts herself off before Steve does. ‘At the least it would widen your dating pool if you felt like you could take guys home.’

‘Yeah, I don’t know.’ Steve sinks his hands into his pockets. ‘What if he’s a dick about it?’ _Or worse_ , Steve thinks. ‘I don’t want to look for another roommate.’

‘If he’s a dick, we’ll beat him up.’ Robin grins up at him.

It loosens the tension in Steve and he can’t help but smile back at her. ‘Thanks,’ he says. He checks his watch and realises he’s going to be late. ‘Shit, I’d better go. I’ll see you both later,’ he says, and strides off with a wave.

Robin yells, ‘Tell him!’ after him and Steve says, ‘Yeah, yeah, I will,’ then lets himself be swallowed up by the crowd.

Maybe he should tell Billy. Heather’s right—he could try dating guys, again, if he was open about all this with Billy. He’d tried for a little while after Billy first moved in, but some of the guys didn’t want, or couldn’t, go back to their places, either, and it got too hard. But if Billy knew, and was okay with it…

Steve’s stomach flips. He’ll decide whether or not to tell Billy later.

—

A whistle follows Steve into the garage. ‘Nice shirt, sweetheart,’ one of Billy’s co-workers, Gary, says.

Steve flips him off as he walks past. Gary is always like that, no matter what colour shirt Steve is wearing. Asshole.

‘Someone’s got their panties in a twist.’

Steve grits his teeth and says, ‘Is Billy around?’

‘Out the back.’

Steve walks further into the garage; the scent of motor oil is heavy in the air, catching at the back of Steve’s throat.

Music blasts from a dinky radio, the sound tinny and distorted. Billy comes out from the back as Steve rounds the corner, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. His overalls are unzipped to the waist, the arms tied to keep it up. There’s a smudge of grease on the curve of his bicep, just over the skull tattoo, and Steve wants so badly to wipe it away. He tears his gaze away, looking up to Billy’s face, but that’s no better. Billy’s hair is tied back, and he’s smirking at Steve, and he’s so fucking hot it’s not fair.

‘Your boyfriend’s here,’ Gary says, moving past Steve and Billy.

‘Get fucked,’ Billy says, all steel, now.

‘That an offer?’

‘In your dreams.’

Gary guffaws and slips out the back.

It’s the same shit he always says, the same shit guys like him always say, no matter whether they think someone is queer or not. It doesn’t mean anything, even if it _stings_ , but it puts the kibosh on Steve’s resolve to tell Billy today.

‘That guy’s such a dick,’ Steve says, arms crossed.

Billy shrugs one shoulder. A muscle ticks in the tense line of his jaw, but he doesn’t say anything. His gaze drags from Steve’s head, down to his toes, and back again. ‘Nice shirt,’ he says.

‘Don’t you start.’ Steve rolls his eyes. ‘And before you say anything, it’s salmon, not pink.’

‘I wasn’t going to mention it.’

‘Anyway, plenty of guys wear pink. Crockett wears pink!’

‘Well, if _Crockett_ wears pink…’ Billy’s grinning at him, tongue between his teeth, and Steve’s traitorous stomach does this annoyingly slow somersault. The grin slowly fades but Billy’s eyes still twinkle.

Something simmers in the air between them. It’s something Steve has felt before, but not often enough for him to be sure if it’s not just one-sided. It’s something that makes him say stupid things like, ‘Aren’t you going to ask how it went? You know, at the…’ He clears his throat, looks around. ‘Dating service.’

Billy gets this closed-off look and says, ‘I’ve got more interesting things to think about than your love life, Harrington,’ and slings the rag on the bench.

‘Like what?’

‘Lunch.’

Steve snorts and rolls his eyes. ‘Well, it went fine. I think. Hopefully I didn’t sound too dumb, or anything.’

‘Don’t wanna scare off that future trophy wife, right?’

‘Right,’ Steve says, feeling wrong-footed. This doesn’t feel like their usual back-and-forth, giving each other shit kind of talk. Steve can’t put his finger on what’s wrong.

‘We going to lunch, or what?’

‘Yeah, yeah, we’re going.’ Steve huffs, ‘What’s eating you, anyway? I’m the one who spent the morning making an idiot of himself on that video.’

‘I’m hungry, you’re late,’ Billy says, grabbing his jacket and pushing past Steve. ‘Come on.’

Steve stares after Billy, only moving when Billy yells, ‘Haul ass, Harrington, I’m starving,’ and Steve jogs the few steps to catch up to him.

By the time they make it to the diner around the corner from the garage, Billy is all wolfish grin again, and Steve figures the earlier weirdness was just one of those Billy things, or because Gary was being a dick.

There was no other reason for Billy to act like that.

—

The video goes into the player with a thunk; a man in a pink polo shirt with swooping dark hair and big eyes sits in front of a purple background. He shifts in place, staring at the camera, then starts talking:

‘Hi, I’m Steve. I like going to the movies, or just to a nice restaurant. I love food.’ He huffs. ‘My best friend is into art, and I don’t always get it, but if it’s your kind of thing we could go to a gallery or something.’ He shrugs and smiles. ’I’m looking for someone to have fun with, really.’

‘I like cars and basketball. The usual stuff. I like someone with a sense of humour. Someone who can make me laugh, you know? That’s really important. Someone I can talk to, listen to music with. Just be with.’ He clears his throat and winks. ‘Someone to share pizza with.’

He ducks his gaze, biting his lip.

‘I, uh, I guess I’m just looking for someone to feel special about.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :D you can find [a little promo thing for this fic on Tumblr if you’re into that](https://gothyringwald.tumblr.com/post/645044461831880704/fast-forward-to-love-wip-t-may-change) :) or just come say hi! :D
> 
> Oh, and if by some chance, you’ve not seen [this montage of ‘80s dating videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIO8X69OW80&ab_channel=FoundFootageFest), I highly recommend watching it! (Unless you suffer greatly from secondhand embarrassment-itis, in which case, avoid at all costs XD) ‘Your typical mathematician’ is my favourite - what a dude! Or [‘Are you the goddess’ dude from this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bomkgXeDkE&ab_channel=JamesonMurphy) (I took the ‘to feel special about’ quote from the viking guy in this one)
> 
> (Also, I haven’t mentioned an actual date, just that it’s still the ‘80s but as you can see from the chapter title I’ve aged Steve - and everyone else - up a little! It felt like it fit a little better with the vibe of this story, but I still wanted it to be the ‘80s)
> 
> ETA: I meant to say, I know pink was a colour for men's fashion in the '80s, but I also figure there'd be enough guys not into the trends at the time who'd be dicks about it/uncomfortable with it


End file.
